Printing device



Jan. 15, 1935.

C. D. RYAN PRINTING DEVICE Filed Nov. 27, 1933 ooooouooenooo .-Oqonooo -/30 NAME T' W o 34 .BMAM

C? az -34 K /lorncys invention is for the printing of addresses.

Patented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES 1,987,801 PRINTING DEVICE' Commodore D. Ryan, Los Angeles,lCalif.l, assignor to National Postal Meter Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application November 27, 1933, Serial No. 699,886 14 claims. (011101-369) 'I'his invention relates to printing devices for use in connection with addressing and other printing machines.

The principal use of the printing devices of this A separate device is used for each address, and, thus, in most installations a great number of these devices are needed and for convenience may be led in trays `or drawers in accordance with any preferred system or scheme of card-indexing.

As most installations require many thousands of these printing devices, it isimportant to provide a device which will be very simple indesign and, therefore, inexpensive, easily assembled and disassembled, relatively thin in thickness in order to enable the filing of a greater number of each tray or drawer and the elimination of all unnecessary material so as to render the device light of weight so as not to make each drawer or tray filled with the devices heavier than may be conveniently handled by the operator. It is the principal object of this invention to provide such a printing device. y

It is a further object of this invention to utilize the printing plate as the backbone of the device and to mount a. supporting member upon each end thereof for carrying an index card, which may be of cardboard, and to providevmeans for releasably locking the supporting members to the printing plate and the index card to said members.

A further object is to provide each endof the printing plate of the device witha guide ilange and each supporting member with va guide-way having a guide flange formed therein arranged to cooperate with the guide fiange formed at its respective end of the plate for interlocking therewith, whereby the supporting members Amay be slid transversely onto and from the `plate, and securely held against being forced longitudinally from the end thereof.

Other objects and advantages of thevinvention will become apparent as the naturefof the same is more fully understood from the following description and accompanying drawing whereinf is set forthr what is now considered to bea preferred embodiment. It should be understood, however, that this particular embodiment of the 'invention is chosen principally for the purpose ofexempliflcation, and that variations therefrom in details of construction or arrangement of parts may accordingly be effected and yet remain within the spirit and scope of the invention as the same is set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawing:v Y

Figure 1 illustrates a front view of one form of the invention;

Figure 2 illustrates on an enlarged scale a sectional View taken substantially in the plane of line II-II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 illustrates on anenlarged scale a sectional yView taken substantially in the plane of line III-III of Figure 1;

, Figure 4 illustratesafront view of a modied form of the invention;

Figure 5 illustrates on an enlarged scale a sectional View takensubstantially in the plane of line V-V of Figure 4;

Figure 6 illustrates on an enlarged scale a sectional view taken substantially in the plane of line VI-VI of Figure 4;

Figure 7 illustrates a front view of a further modified form of` the invention;

Figure 8 illustrates a fragmental view of the several parts disassembled;

Figure 9 illustrates on an enlarged scale a secvtional view taken substantially in the plane of line IX-IX.

The invention broadlyincludes a printing plate, k

a pair of supporting members and an index card, so formed as to be easily and quickly assembled into a complete printing device.

In the preferred form of the invention, illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the supporting members are slidably mounted upon opposite ends of the printing plate, and for this purpose the printing platelO may be provided at each end with a guide ange 11 (note especially Fig. 3). 'I'hese guide flanges may be formed by bending a short portion of veach end section of the plate back upon itself, while each supporting member 12 may be formed of ra metal strip convoluted, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, to form a guide-way 13 having an inwardly directed guide iiange 14.f vThe guide-wayl should be of such size as to nicely lit over the iianged end of the plate whereby the guide anges 11 and -14 may cooperate to interlock the support with the plate. It will be understood that the two supporting members may be similarly formed and treated after the forming operation to make one right and the other left handed. `It is desirablexto provide a st op means at each end of the printing plate to properly locate the supporting members when mounted thereon, and for this purpose the lower or bottom edge of plate 10 may be flanged as at 15, against which flange the lower end of each supporting member may abut when correctly located thereon. As may be observed in Fig. 1, the stop flange 15 may not extend to the ends of the plate while the supporting members 12 may be cut out as at 16 to provide a stop shoulder and to permit the ends thereof to be pushed down flush with the bottom edge of the plate, thus giving the device a more nished and pleasing appearance. The stop flange 15 need not be extended across the bottom of the plate, as shown, but by doing so has the advantage of making the plate stiffer and more serviceable.

After the supporting members have been slid into engagement with the stop flange 15, it is desirable, although not entirely necessary, to lock these members against outward movement. Many different forms of locking means may be satisfactorily employed for this purpose. The preferred form of locking means, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, may include slitting the upper flange of each supporting member to form spring stop pawls 1'7, which are then bent downwardly, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, 'while at each end lof the plate a square hole 18 may be properly located to receive the ends of their respective pawls when these members are correctly positioned upon the plate. The supporting members may be easily removed or disassembledfrom the plate by lifting the end of the spring pawls 17 and sliding the members `therefrom.

After the two supporting members have been mounted upon the printingpla'te an index card 19 may be mounted in the guide-ways thereof. However, if preferred, the index card may be assembled between the two supporting members and .then the plate slid into position, whereupon the pawls 1'? will act 'to lock the entire structure into a compact unit. To prevent the index card from sliding along the guide-ways'of the supporting members and thus becoming dislodged, vthe outer ends thereof may be formed to close these guide-ways; as, for example, the upper flange of each member may, contiguous with the outer end thereof, be 'bent as at V20 to close the guide-ways and to thus lock the index card in the structure.

If desired, the printing `plate maybe provided with an offset and upwardly extending lip 2l and two lips 22 vfor engaging opposite 'sides of the index card for supporting the adjacent edge thereof.

The printing plate 10 may be embossed with appropriate printing characters, an imprint of which may be made upon the index card for filing purposes and for convenience when handling the devices. Also, Ythe index card may be provided with the usual index tabs (not shown) ,which may be used for selecting the printing devices which are or are not to -be printed.

From the above description, it will be appreciated that the printing device of this invention includes a printing plate, two supporti-ng members and an index card, all of which may be easily and quickly assembled yor disassembled; that the assembled device will contain a minimum of metal and thus be of light Weight, and due to its simplicity will be extremely inexpensive to manufacture, and will also be relatively thin, thus permitting a greater number to be filed in the storage drawer or tray.

In Figures l4, 5 and 6 a modified form -of `the invention has been illustrated wherein each of the supporting members 30 may be formed -of strip metal to provide a plain guide-way 31, into which the ends of the printing plate 32 and the index card 33 may be positioned and locked by means of punching or crimping the supporting members, `as at 34. When the printing plate and index card have been positioned and crimped in the guide-ways of the supporting members, the entire assembly will be securely fastened together and will make a very simple and serviceable device.

In Figures '7, 8 and 9 there is illustrated a further modiiied form of the invention, wherein the supporting members 40 may be formed of strip metal to provide a plain guide-way 41 (note Fig. 9). Before the supported members are formed, the detents 42 may be vpressed therein. As illustrated, these detents are semi-hemispherical protuberances, but may be of any other appropriate form, :and are projected 'inwardly of the guideway in staggered relation; that is, the detent of one flange of the supporting member is not lofcated opposite to the detent of the other ange .thereof,but it is to be understood that the detents may be positioned one opposite to the other, if desired.

The printing plate 43 may be provided at each end with holes 44 located to register with detents 42 when the supporting members have been correctly positioned on the plate. Likewise, the index card 45 may be provided at each end with holes 46 located to register with the supporting member detents 42 when assembled therewith.

After the printing plate has been embossed with the appropriate printing characters and an impression thereof registered upon the index card, the device may be assembled.

The guide-way 41 of each of the supporting members should Vbe substantially equal in width to the thickness of the printing plate, and as the detents project inwardly thereof the supporting members must be sprung open as they are assembled on the plate, and finally the detents will snap into the registering holes 44 of the plate and will be thereby correctly located and releasably locked thereon.

In assembling this form of the printing device, it may be advantageous to first spring open the supporting member with one end of the printing plate and thereafter slide the corresponding end of the index card into position before finally moving the plate into locking position so as to take all of the strain of opening the member upon the `metal printing plate and thus to prevent the card from becoming grooved or distorted by the detents. The other of the supporting members may likewise be mounted upon the printing plate and card. When -completely assembled, this printing device will be firmly locked together by the detents. By reversing the procedure for assembling the several parts, the device may be Aeasily and quickly taken apart.

It will be understood that the detents 42 may be 4eliminated from the index card receiving portion of the guide-ways and the card locked there- Ain in the same way as set forth in the firstdescribed form of the invention.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details herein set forth for the `sake of illustration, but is of the full scope ofthe following claims.

I claim:

l. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide flange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding iiange arranged to cooperate with the guide flange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, and an index card 'carried by said pair of supporting members.

2. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide flange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding liange arranged to cooperate with the guide flange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, means for locking the supporting members to the printing plate in predetermined relation thereto, and an index card carried by said supporting members.

3. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide ange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding flange arranged to cooperate with the guide flange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, means for releasably locking the supporting members to the printing plate in predetermined relation thereto, and an index card carried by said supporting members.

4. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide nange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding flange arranged to cooperate with the guide flange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, means for locking the supporting members to the printing plate when brought into predetermined relation thereto, an index card mounted in the guideways of said supporting members, and means for locking said index card in said guideways.

5. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide flange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding iiange arranged to cooperate with the guide ange at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, said printing plate having a stop flange formed contiguous with the bottom edge thereof for locating said supporting means in predetermined relation thereto, and an index card carried by said supporting members.

6. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide flange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding ange arranged to cooperate with the guide ange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, said printing plate having a stop flange formed contiguous with the bottom edge thereof for locating said supporting means in predetermined relation thereto, means for locking the supporting members to the printing plate when moved into the said predetermined relation therewith, and an index card carried by said supporting members.

7. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide flange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding flange arranged to cooperate with the guide flange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, said printing plate having a stop iiange formed contiguous with the bottom edge thereof for locating saidv supporting members in predetermined relation thereto, means for locking the supporting members to the printing plate when moved into the said predetermined relation therewith, an index card mounted in the guideways of said supporting members, and means for locking said index card in said guideways.

8. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide flange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding flange arranged to cooperate with the guide flange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, an index card carried by said pair of supporting members, and said plate having the upper edge thereof provided with means for supporting the adjacent edge of the index card.

9. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide flange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway formed with a guiding flange arranged to cooperate with the guide flange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, means for locking the supporting members to the printing plate when brought into predetermined relation therewith, an index card carried by said supporting members, and said plate having means for supporting the adjacent edge of the index card.

10. A printing device including a printing plate having a guide flange formed contiguous with each end thereof, a pair of supporting members reach having a guideway formed with a guiding flange arranged to cooperate with the guide flange formed at its respective end of the printing plate for interlocking therewith, said printing plate having a stop flange formed contiguous with the bottom edge thereof for locating said supporting members in predetermined relation therewith, means for locking the supporting members to the printing plate when moved into the said predetermined relation thereto, an index card mounted in the guideway of said supporting members, means for locking said index card in said guideways, and means carried by the printing plate for supporting the adjacent edge of the index card.

11. A printing device including a printing plate, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway to enable said members to be mounted upon opposite ends of said plate, and an index card carried by said members.

12. A printing device including a printing plate, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway to enable said members to be mounted upon opposite ends of said plate, means for locking said supporting members to said plate, and an index card carried by said members.

13. A printing device including a printing plate, a pair of supporting members each having a guideway to enable said members to be mounted upon opposite ends of said plate, means for locking said supporting members to the printing plate, an index card mounted in the guideways of said supporting members, and means for locking said card in said guideways.

14. A printing device including a printing plate, a support removably mounted at each end thereof, means for locking the said supports to the printing plate, an index card removably carried by said supports, and means for locking said card to said supports.

COMMODORE D. RYAN. 

